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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29477250">Lullaby Home</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReyAndor19/pseuds/ReyAndor19'>ReyAndor19</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Ben Solo is Trying, Ben Solo is a Good Partner, But no my brain really said mystery time, Cuddling &amp; Snuggling, Diary/Journal, Dreams, Established Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, F/M, Fluff, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Bondage (Star Wars), I Made Myself Cry, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I blame the song for making me cry, I swear it was just supposed to be a nice fluffy music fic, Inspired by Music, Music, Musical References, Mystery, Not Canon Compliant - Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Planet Naboo (Star Wars), Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Pre-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Rey Needs A Hug (Star Wars), Rey is Bad at Feelings (Star Wars), Reylo - Freeform, Reylo’s just doing a Sherlock Holmes now, Romantic Fluff, Secret Marriage, Secret Relationship, Singing, Sleepiness, Sleeptalking, Song: A Thousand Years (Christina Perri), Song: Hey It’s Delilah (Kallista Rowan), Song: Hey There Delilah (Plain White T’s), Song: Love Me Anyway (P!nk), Song: Meet Me on the Battlefield (Svircina), Song: Photograph (Ed Sheeran), Song: You Are My Sunshine (Jasmine Thompson), Song: You Are My Sunshine (Johnny Cash), Sort Of, Tags Are Fun, Tags Are Hard, Tired Rey (Star Wars), Tooth-Rotting Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 22:20:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,309</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29477250</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReyAndor19/pseuds/ReyAndor19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Rey finds a collection of old audio recordings of Padmé and Anakin exchanging duets through comms, Ben catches her singing the same songs, and they decide to work together to find out more about the singers.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Hey There Delilah</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The song Anakin sings is Hey There Delilah is by Plain White T’s, and the song Padmé sings is Hey It’s Delilah by Kallista Rowan. For plot purposes, I edited them slightly (as in I changed New York to Coruscant because New York does not exist in the Star Wars universe).</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“<em> Hey there, my Padmé </em></p>
<p>
  <em> Don't you worry about the distance </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> I'm right there if you get lonely </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Give this song another listen </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Close your eyes </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Listen to my voice, it's my disguise </em>
</p>
<p><em> I'm by your side… </em>”</p>
<p>Rey opened her eyes as the voice trailed off. She fiddled with the device, flipping to the next audio disk, a response to the man singing.</p>
<p>“<em> Hey, it’s your lover, thinkin' 'bout you from the city </em></p>
<p>
  <em> And I’m counting down the days until I’ve got you right here with me by my side </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> But until then I’ll close my eyes </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> And dream about you every night </em>
</p>
<p><em> I’ll love you from Coruscant tonight </em>.”</p>
<p>She shuffled through the pile of disks, wanting to hear more of the mysterious duo singing about the distance between them, and the love that made the distance feel so much less. She wondered if they had shared a force bond. The songs they exchanged reminded her of the long distance between herself and Ben. Of course, the singers had been in love, and she and Ben were...complicated.</p>
<p>She reached out to the force, searching for anyone nearby. Apart from a few families of porgs, she was alone on the <em> Falcon </em>.</p>
<p>“<em> Oh, you’re far away from me </em></p>
<p>
  <em> But oh, I know that you’re happy </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> That’s how things should be </em>
</p>
<p><em> Yeah, that’s how things should be, </em> ” she sang quietly- the chorus of Padmé’s song. It sounded different when she sang it compared to the recording, but not in a bad way. She smiled a little and searched through the old disks. If all of them were duets between Padmé and her lover, there had to be dozens of songs. Maybe even close to a hundred. <em> They must have really loved each other. But they were always apart </em>…</p>
<p>She shook off the hint of sadness that was creeping over her and found a new recording. It took a little more fiddling before the song would play, but eventually music spilled from the device.</p>
<p>“<em> Meet me on the battlefield </em></p>
<p>
  <em> Even on the darkest night </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> I will be your sword and shield, your camouflage </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> And you will be mine…” </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Meet Me on the Battlefield</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I’ll see you on the battlefield,</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Meet up in the dark of night,</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>We won’t need a sword or shield, can’t camouflage,</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>This love of yours and mine…</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Amid the sounds of a typical day in the First Order- the steady clank of stormtrooper armor as troops hurried to their missions in perfect formation, the whirring of droids zipping around the ship, the constant beep of tech, the conversations of soldiers -the sound of a voice echoed through the halls. There was nothing out of place about a voice, of course. There were thousands of soldiers aboard the Dreadnought. But this voice was different. Out of place. For starters, no one could hear it. No one but him. The second key difference was that...the speaker seemed to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>singing</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Despite the limited evidence, Ben had a good idea who the singer was.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Currently he was somewhere between cursing both Rey and the bond for distracting him and hoping she would keep singing, because it was actually quite nice, and no one really sang in the First Order. He followed the echoes of the song to an abandoned corner of the ship.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>To him, Rey appeared to be sitting in the middle of the hallway, though he assumed she was in some forgotten area of the Resistance base- she was surrounded by an arrangement of tools, her attention focused on a comm unit that spat sparks at her when she prodded at it. Thankfully, her back was turned to him, and he listened to her sing for a few minutes- a bittersweet song about two soldiers fighting together on a battlefield, persevering despite the haunting memories of death and destruction.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where’d you hear that?” The question fell from his lips before he even knew he was about to say them, filling the space between them. Rey’s song died off midnote as she whipped around to face him, a mixture of shock and embarrassment radiating off her in the force.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Interesting. Shock and embarrassment...but no anger.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How long were you there?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just a few minutes.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She eyed him curiously. “So we’re talking again?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It would seem that way.” There was a short pause, before he decided to repeat his original question: “Where’d you hear the song?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She shrugged, looking down at the hydrospanner in front of her as if it held the answers. “I found some old recordings of this couple that used to send each other songs- some guy, and a woman named Padmé, but I have no idea how it ended up on the ship. There’s a lot of old stuff here. I’ve been cleaning out the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Falcon</span>
  </em>
  <span>, looking for usable supplies.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ben wanted to be angry at her for going through his father’s old ship, his family’s things. But if he was being completely honest, he was glad it was Rey, and not some random rebel. She at least appreciated the ship, and all it had survived. He hated to admit it, but he was still fond of the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Millenium Falcon</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But childhood memories of the ship aside...there was something familiar about the name she’d mentioned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You said something about...Padmé?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She nodded. “I think her full name was Padmé Naberrie. That’s what the man called her in one of the songs.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The name was definitely familiar. But from where? One of his mother’s fellow Senators? A former Jedi from the time of the Jedi Order? A famous Imperial or Rebel, studied in class?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is there any way to tell when the recordings were sent?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She studied him curiously. “I might be able to find a location, but there’s no way to tell when the songs were sent. Whoever created the recordings erased the dates. They’re definitely from before the First Order- the New Republic too. But they could have been sent anywhere in between the beginning of the Clone Wars, and the destruction of the second Death Star.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wait… “Say that again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rey shot him a look that was definitely questioning his sanity. “The recordings could’ve been exchanged any time in between the beginning of the Clone Wars and-“</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think I might be able to find out who Padmé is,” he said quickly, cutting her off. Her eyes widened and she started to say something, but there was an odd twitch in the force, like the flip of a switch, and Rey disappeared as the connection severed.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The original song, Meet Me on the Battlefield is by Svircina, but what Rey sings is a slightly adjusted version that I imagine Padmé singing back to Anakin (or possibly the reverse).<br/>Chapter 3 is already in progress, and it’s looking to be mainly fluff, but it’s also looking to change the length of the story. 4 to 5 chapters is still a rough estimate, but it will most likely change as the story progresses.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Photograph</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ever since the last force bond, Rey had been worried about Ben. Evidently, leading the First Order was taking up a lot of energy and sanity. He hadn’t exchanged a single word with her for </span>
  <em>
    <span>months</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and suddenly they were chatting like old friends, trying to solve the mystery of Padmé Naberrie and her lover? She wasn’t exactly </span>
  <em>
    <span>complaining</span>
  </em>
  <span>, because it was nice having someone to talk to again, but seriously...she wanted some answers, and soon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The next time the bond connected them, she turned, ready to demand answers about the Padmé mystery and his sudden interest in it, and her speech immediately came to a sputtering halt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you...</span>
  <em>
    <span>reading</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ben slammed the cover of the book shut and ignited his lightsaber, pointing it at her before she could blink. She quickly held up her hands in surrender. “Hey, wait-“</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He switched off the saber, setting it back down beside him. “Sorry. I thought you were Hux.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She squinted at the cover. “What’re you reading? Something about Galactic Domination? Or are you onto the Sith Texts?” She was mainly surprised by the amount of the old, well-kept novels- hardly anyone still owned paper books any more. The last time she’d seen one was back on Jakku, the journal she’d kept.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He shot her a slightly annoyed look. “They’re journals. They belonged to my grandmother.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh.” She softened, sitting down beside him on the bed and running her fingers over the smooth, beautifully decorated cover of one of the books.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Her name...her name was Padmé Amidala.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rey’s fingers froze.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait...Padmé? As in…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think she’s our Padmé.” </span>
  <em>
    <span>Our</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Her heart missed a beat. Their Padmé. Not hers. Theirs. They shared the mystery now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But...the woman in the song…her last name was Naberrie.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. But look at this.” He flipped open the book to a dog-eared page, moving aside to let her read the neat, cursive writing. “She talks about the war here- and about meeting with someone important. If it was a general or a Jedi Knight, or a soldier in the war, she would have specified their name. But what if she left out their name because it was too dangerous to include it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rey traced the letters carefully. “Maybe. I could find the location of some of the transmissions. If they’re from a place nearby a battlefield from the Clone Wars, she could be the singer. But what about…I mean, who’s she singing to?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ben looked away. “I don’t know. My mother never told me about my grandfather. Whe he used to be...and who he turned into. I only found out because of some article on the holonet.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh…” She faltered, unsure of what to say. “I’m sorry.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s fine. The past is the past.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So...you never knew?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a long, tense silence between them that seemed to stretch on longer than the distance of their current locations, before he finally spoke again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you have any of the recordings?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm?” She stifled a yawn- it was so </span>
  <em>
    <span>early</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but she couldn’t sleep. Everything about Ajan Kloss’s jungle was so foreign, it was hard to find peace without the hundreds of Resistance fighters around the base.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The songs. Do you have any other ones?” Ben started stacking the journals into small piles and placing them...well, she couldn’t exactly see. Once he let go of them, they just kind of disappeared. The bond could be weird sometimes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They’re all in the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Falcon</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” she mumbled, helping him collect the books.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>More silence. After so many years of being alone, she thought she understood silence. It had been a constant companion, her only companion, back on Jakku. But this silence, the silence that was filled to the bursting with unsaid words, this silence was a kind she’d never really experienced before.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So Rey decided to fill that silence with the only thing she knew for sure wouldn’t start a fight between them- music.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Loving can hurt, loving can hurt sometimes,</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>But it’s the only thing that I know.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” She paused, uncertain, her hands twisting a loose strand of hair. The silence seemed to stretch out again, until two words echoed through the bond.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Don’t stop.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She hesitated, the two of them sitting there, both afraid to move and break the complete stillness of the moment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Please</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She took a shaky breath and continued. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>When it gets hard- you know it can get hard sometimes-</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>It is the only thing that makes us feel alive.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>We keep this love in a photograph</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>We make these memories for ourselves</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Where are eyes are never closing,</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Hearts are never broken,</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>And time’s forever frozen still…</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rey wasn’t really aware of finishing the song. Everything after the first verse was a blur. But it was a blur of warmth and comfort and safety.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well, not yet. That feeling that things were just </span>
  <em>
    <span>right</span>
  </em>
  <span> came later. She never could remember what had led to it, but she knew she would never forget how they’d ended up curled up together, half-asleep and exhausted from too many sleepless nights. How she’d sang some of the songs she’d heard in the recordings, and Ben had sang a few old lullabies he’d learned from Leia, and they’d stayed that way until they were both asleep.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rey didn’t exactly know how to describe the feeling- it was one she’d never truly experienced before -but if she had to take a guess, she would have called it…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Home.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The song in this chapter is Photograph by Ed Sheeran.<br/>A little about the ending: I just wanted to write some fluff for these two, they deserve some peace together.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. A Thousand Years</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It had been far too long since the bond had connected them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Far too long since the one night of peace and rest that they’d shared.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Far too long since they’d had a chance to look into the mystery of Padmé Amidala.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Three entire days.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It felt like years.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sometimes Ben would hear the echoes of a song and turn, only to find emptiness and silence waiting for him. Or worse, Hux.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Never Rey.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Any free time was spent scouring Padmé’s journals, but there was never any clear information regarding the identity of the other half of her duet. He found a few possible references, but the Senator kept her secrets carefully guarded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I have died everyday waiting for you</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Darling don't be afraid I have loved you</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>For a thousand years</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I'll love you for a thousand more</span>
  </em>
  <span>…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once again, he turned, hoping to find someone other than Hux for once.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh, thank the force</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rey was perched on an upside down crate, all of her concentration focused on a panel that seemed to be a part of the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Falcon</span>
  </em>
  <span>’s holochess board, the music player sitting beside her, and Padmé’s hopeful voice pouring from it. Rey’s lips moved with the music, sometimes singing, sometimes pausing to mutter something to herself as she messed with the holochess controls.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>And all along I believed I would find you</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Time has brought your heart to me</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I have loved you for a thousand years…”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I'll love you for a thousand more,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” he finished with her. Rey whipped around, her surprise melting into a warm smile. She quickly dropped the panel and turned off the music, shooting him a quick glance that told him to wait a minute.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey Poe, do you mind if I take a break for a while? I just need some fresh air,” she called to someone he couldn’t see. There was a quick pause, before she grinned and nodded. “Thanks.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The next few minutes were filled with a slightly awkward shuffling as Rey tried to exit the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Falcon</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and Ben tried to follow her without actually moving from the quiet alcove in the First Order hallway. Moving around was always inconvenient when it came to the bond, due to the fact that they were technically in two places at once.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did you find anything new?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Rey...you’re in a wall.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh!” She stepped forward, and to him it appeared as if she were stepping out of a wall. “Sorry, that’s open space where I am. So did you find anything else about Padmé?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, but...it’s more about what I </span>
  <em>
    <span>didn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> find.” He checked over his shoulder to make sure there was no one watching, then pulled one of Padmé’s journals from his cloak. Rey shot him a questioning look, which he pointedly ignored. “There’s a whole part that’s missing, see? Someone tore it out. Maybe one of the owners of the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Falcon</span>
  </em>
  <span> stole it, after my...my father lost it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He sat down, and she did the same, squinting at the remnants of the missing pages. “Are there any clues anywhere?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nothing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm.” She leaned over the paper, and a light breeze blew, playing with the loose strands of her hair and tugging a loose length of one of her arm wraps across the page of the journal. “Sorry,” she muttered, reaching over to pull the fabric out of the way.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait.” Ben grabbed her wrist, staring at the paper. “Don’t.” He let go of her hand, covering the fabric instead. “Look at it. What do you see?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She tilted her head. “It looks like Padmé’s talking about a risky mission to capture a Seperatist base. But most of the words are covered.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I told you you needed a teacher.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What does that mean?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Look closer.” He pointed to the first word on the last page before the missing chunk. “What does it look like it says?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well the first word is ‘my’. But the rest of the line is covered. The first word of the second line is ‘secret’. And the rest of that’s covered too. The third line says…’will’. Wait…” She reached over, laying her arm over the paper so that only the first word of each row was visible.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My secret will die with me,” Ben read aloud. “For the safety of our love and our...family.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No one stole the pages. Padmé tore them out on purpose!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We need to find out everything we can about Padmé Amidala. Where she lived, where she spent her time...anywhere she’d hide the pages with her secret.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can look into the Resistance records.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The First Order might have something. Worst case scenario, we can ask the holonet.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah.” She laughed a little at that, her eyes meeting his. “Hey Ben, I-“</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But she faded from view before she could finish her sentence.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was the first time he truly wished one of their force bonds could have been longer.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So...and this is *completely* hypothetical (wink wink)...if Rey and Ben were to share one Anakin-and-Padmé-style “lullaby”, which song should they sing?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. You Are My Sunshine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Rey was nervous, and it showed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Poe and Finn had mentioned it to her, and Rose had pointed out her anxiousness only a few minutes before. She took a few deep breaths, trying to quell the butterflies fluttering in her stomach.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It had been four whole days since the last force bond.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Another one had to be coming soon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And she was both excited and terrified, though she wouldn’t (and couldn’t) admit it to anyone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Fingering the small object in her pocket, she found herself turning to the one constant source of comfort she can find when the crowded Resistance base and the stress of the war got to be too much. Music.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>The other night dear,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” she murmured, trying to hide the slight tremble in her voice. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>As I lay sleeping,</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I dreamt I held you in my arms.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken,</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>So I hung my head and I cried.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Another one of Padmé’s songs?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah.” A slow, genuine smile spread across her face. It was hard to imagine ever being terrified of the bond- she could practically feel the tension drain from her body as the force connected them. “And I think I might’ve found something about her riddle.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A place she could have hidden the pages?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Possibly.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I couldn’t find much. She was a Senator, a queen, she fought in the Clone Wars, and she died shortly after her twins were born.” Ben shrugged, holding out a small handheld datapad. It displayed the scant amount of information available on Padmé Amidala. “Almost nothing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rey scrolled down through the record until she reached the category she was looking for. “Nothing might be enough.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Her death? She wouldn’t have hidden it in the hospital. Too open and public.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not where she died. Where she was </span>
  <em>
    <span>buried</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She could see the exact moment he understood. “My secret will die with me. That’s what she said...and you think she meant it literally.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Think about it. The Jedi were forbidden from having relationships, and during the war, everyone would be on edge. If anyone had found out…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They’d have both been killed. Or worse.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Exactly. She wouldn’t have taken it lightly. She would’ve protected her secret, even from her closest friends.” The last sentence slipped out before she was even aware of thinking it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It seemed that it took one to know one.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But of course she and Ben weren’t in love...right? Any feelings she had for him were entirely one-sided. He’d made that clear back in the throne room. Besides, she wasn’t keeping any secrets from her friends. They just...didn’t need to know about the bond yet. A part of her wouldn’t have wanted to tell them about it even if she and Ben weren’t enemies. The connection they shared was private. And special...to her, at least. It had started out as a nuisance, but now she looked forward to each meeting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If only they both felt that way.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But she would only be deluding herself by believing they could have what Padmé and her lover had.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe…” He considered this for a few minutes. “How soon can you make it to Naboo?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We should meet up.” Ben looked away, refusing to meet her eyes. “To search for the pages, I mean.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh. Yeah.” Of course. Purely business. She was stupid to think he’d want to meet up for anything other than the mystery. “I can probably leave before the end of the day, not much is going on in the Resistance.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Same here...I’ll see you then, I guess.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“See you soon.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She took a deep breath, forcing herself to speak. “Ben, I...I have something for you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?” It was his turn to look surprised.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I- you- the other day. You asked about- I mean- you asked if I had any of the recordings with me. That one night, I mean. And- I just-“ She pulled a small device out of her pocket and pressed it into his hand. “It can only hold two recordings. But- I just thought-“ He probably thought she was an idiot. She couldn't’ even finish a kriffing </span>
  <em>
    <span>sentence</span>
  </em>
  <span>, for force’s sake!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you.” Ben studied the device, and she held her breath. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh, </span>
  </em>
  <span>please</span>
  <em>
    <span> don’t play it right now-</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For once, the bond decided to work in her favor, and Ben disappeared from view.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The song in this chapter was You Are My Sunshine, and the original is by Johnny Cash, but I used the Jasmine Thompson cover to write this chapter.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Love Me Anyway</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When the bond connected them, she was asleep.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Judging by her surroundings, Ben assumed she was somewhere in the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Falcon</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Most likely the captain’s quarters. She was fast asleep, her body curled around the device she used to play the recordings.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Without the shield she kept around herself, she looked so much smaller, and so much more vulnerable. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Even if you see my scars…</span>
  </em>
  <span> The song began playing in his mind again.</span>
  <em>
    <span> Even if I break your heart, if we’re a million miles apart, do you think you’d walk away?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The lyrics had haunted him since she’d given him the device. He’d listened to the recordings the second the bond had disconnected. But instead of Padmé, or even her mysterious lover, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Rey’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> voice had poured from the fist-sized contraption. The first verse of a sweet, sad song, recorded almost the same way Padmé’s duets had been.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’d found the rest of the song easily, and every so often, when he was alone, the lyrics would echo through his mind, and he’d consider replying. Recording the next verse. Maybe even send it to her through the holonet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But she wasn’t Padmé. He wasn’t her lover. He was a monster, she’d made that very clear. They were cautious allies, maybe. But not...they weren’t...they would never be lovers. Rey hated him. He reminded himself of this every time he thought about continuing the song.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Even if I scandalize you,</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Cut you down and criticize you…</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’d started out humming, but by the end of the second line, he switched to singing the next verse of the hauntingly beautiful song.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Tell a million lies about you,</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>What would you say?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Could you?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Could you love me anyway?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ben?” He started. Apparently Rey was a light sleeper. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Noted.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey.” He sat down beside her, on the edge of the cot, and she inched over to curl up against him. He probably should’ve moved, but it was so comfortable…he reached over to push a few strands of her tangled hair out of her face, promising himself that this would be the last time he pretended they could be like Padmé and her lover. The</span>
  <em>
    <span> very last time</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Ever. Just this last morning, and then he’d accept that they were enemies. “You at the Resistance base?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She nodded, a drowsy smile spreading across her face. “Do I have to wake up?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I- what?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I wish this was real,” she murmured.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you mean?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sadness flickered in her eyes, fading her smile. “Ben would never do something like this. I know this is a dream.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She thought she was dreaming.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This changed...a lot.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Something like this?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hugging. Touching. This.” She leaned into his touch, and he realized he was still stroking her hair.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You really think so?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah...I just...I wish I could tell him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tell me- him...tell him what?” Oh force. Here was where she finally told him she hated him. That he was a monster. That they were better off going their separate ways and forgetting about their work on the Padmé mystery altogether.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m in love with Ben Solo.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe he was the one dreaming. Because it sounded a lot like Rey had just told him...that she loved him? </span>
  <em>
    <span>But…</span>
  </em>
  <span> She’d called him a monster. And their last real meeting, back in the throne room… </span>
  <em>
    <span>“I’m in love with Ben Solo.”</span>
  </em>
  <span> The words echoed through his mind, not fully registering.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You...what?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I just wish I could tell him,” she said softly. “But...he hates me. I’m nothing to him. He said it himself.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, Rey…” It was exactly the opposite, really. But of course, the force chose that exact moment to break them up, and she faded away.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This complicated things.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A lot.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The song in this chapter is Love Me Anyway, by P!nk, and there’s a very important note that goes with it: Thank you to Anewhope303 for recommending this song for these two to share, it works so beautifully for Reylo, I can’t thank you enough 🖤 May the force be with you!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Dancing With Your Ghost</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>First of all, apologies for the late chapter. Busy schedule + a sudden lack of any motivation to write = ...this.<br/>Second, while using the find and replace button, I somehow managed to delete all instances of the word ‘arm’ on the document I wrote this on. So if there’s just a missing appendage in here or something, it’s probably an arm.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As Rey slowly padded through the forgotten halls of the tomb of Padmé Amidala, she could practically feel the ghosts of the past brushing by her with each slight breeze, memories oozing from the ancient stones as her fingertips traced the patterns chiseled into the rock.</p>
<p>Padmé’s presence weighed so heavily on this place, Rey could feel it in her bones. Padmé, and...someone else, as well.</p>
<p><em> Ben </em>.</p>
<p>She suppressed a smile, her steps speeding up, and any hesitation vanishing. Ben’s presence chased away the haunted feeling that had sent goosebumps creeping across her flesh, and she had to remind herself that the only reason he agreed to meet up with her was because he wanted to learn more about Padmé.</p>
<p>Though she’d had the best dream on the way to Naboo… <em> It was just a dream, Rey. Pull yourself together- this is real life. </em></p>
<p>It took a few minutes before she found him, in the main chamber. This place was a maze, the long twisting hallways made to remember Padmé Amidala, but also to keep the unwanted away from her coffin.</p>
<p>Fortunately, neither Rey nor Ben were unwanted here. The halls had seemed to guide them to this room, this beautiful, peaceful place, where Padmé’s coffin lay.</p>
<p>“You made it.”</p>
<p>She nodded, too awed by the chamber to say anything. And nervous. So nervous. Every time they’d met up in person before...it hadn’t ended well. Takodana. Starkiller Base. <em> Supremacy </em>. Did Crait count? Sure, that too.</p>
<p>Who could say for sure that this time would be different?</p>
<p><em>Say something,</em> she reprimanded herself silently. He was staring at her. <em>Rey, say something! Literally anything! </em></p>
<p>“This...this place is beautiful.”</p>
<p>“It is.” <em> Okay, so that didn’t work. </em></p>
<p>“Did you find anything?”</p>
<p>“Not really. I just got here a few minutes ago.” He looked around the room- at the ceiling, the walls, anywhere but her, really. Kriff.</p>
<p>“Should…” she hesitated, not wanting to seem disrespectful. “Should we check the coffin?”</p>
<p>His eyes finally flicked to her. “What?”</p>
<p>“Not <em> in </em> the coffin,” she corrected quickly. “But...around it.”</p>
<p>“<em> My secret will die with me. </em>She meant that literally. You think...she meant she would keep the papers in her coffin?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know. Maybe?” She didn’t know how Padmé’s mind worked.</p>
<p>Only...she did.</p>
<p>Padmé’s love, her family, it was a secret she had to keep from those closest to her.</p>
<p>Rey’s love, the feeling of home and family that resonated deep in her heart when she and Ben were together...it was a secret she had to keep from those closest to her.</p>
<p>She stepped forward, resting her hand on the smooth, polished wood, brushing away a light layer of dust that had slowly collected over the years. Ben joined her, searching for...well, who knew what they were looking for? The pages, obviously, but Rey knew Padmé wouldn’t just leave them stuck to the side of her coffin. She would’ve been smarter than that. She would’ve found a way to make sure they wouldn’t be found by accident.</p>
<p>A soft click broke the silence, and Rey looked over. Ben was examining an uneven knot in the wood. He pressed it gently, and the clicking noise sounded again. “There’s something here.”</p>
<p>She felt the slight indent of a button, carefully concealed. “This has to be it. But...how do we open it?” She tried pressing it again, but aside from another click, nothing happened. They stepped away from the button, thinking hard.</p>
<p>“Rey.”</p>
<p>“Hmm?” She listened distractedly, trying to pry the button out of the wood with her fingernail.</p>
<p>“What was that you said a minute ago?”</p>
<p>“We should check the coffin? That feels...disrespectful, but it could help.”</p>
<p>“No, after that.”</p>
<p>“How do we open it?”</p>
<p>“That’s it. That’s the answer.”</p>
<p>“What?” She turned to face him.</p>
<p>“We open it.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, that’s what we’re trying to find out.”</p>
<p>“No, <em> we </em> open it. Think about it. Who’s the only person Padmé would’ve trusted with those pages, besides herself?”</p>
<p>Her eyes widened. “Her lover.”</p>
<p>He knelt down beside her, tapping the button. “Maybe we couldn’t open it because it wasn’t made to be opened by one person.”</p>
<p>“But...it’s a coffin. How would Padmé help open it?”</p>
<p>“Her family. Luke and Leia. She would’ve trusted them as well.” <em> Oh </em>.</p>
<p>“Maybe she meant for Luke and Leia to come here and find the pages,” she murmured, staring at the button. “So...this is it, then.” She couldn’t hide the hint of disappointment in her voice. This <em> was </em> it. The end of their journey together. After this...then what? They’d go back to being enemies again? Just like that?</p>
<p>“Yeah.” Ben sounded slightly disappointed as well. “This is it.”</p>
<p>She reached out and rested her finger on the button. “Ready?”</p>
<p>He covered her finger with his own. “Ready.”</p>
<p>This time, instead of a click, a soft, musical chime sounded. A small section of the wood dropped down, a secret drawer of sorts, and there was a soft thud as an object tumbled to the ground between them. As she stared down at it, only one feeling registered in her heart: disappointment.</p>
<p>It was not the missing pages.</p>
<p>It was a piece of wood.</p>
<p>A carved piece of wood attached to a string.</p>
<p>A necklace.</p>
<p>They’d come all this way only to find a necklace.</p>
<p><em> No </em>. This couldn’t be how it ended. What about the missing pages? The answer to the mystery?</p>
<p>“It’s...a japor snippet,” Ben said quietly, giving a name to the offensive object. “They’re good luck charms. The wood is extremely rare.”</p>
<p>A good luck charm.</p>
<p><em> Lovely </em>.</p>
<p>She reached out slowly, torn between wanting to shatter the necklace and wanting to examine it for more clues. Her fingers brushed the pendant, and she felt...not a shock exactly, but a current of some sort of energy rush from the necklace and up through her arm. She pulled away quickly, rubbing her arm. <em> What the… </em></p>
<p>“<em> I stay up all night, tell myself I’m alright. </em></p>
<p>
  <em> Baby you’re just harder to see than most.” </em>
</p>
<p>“Who said that?” Rey and Ben shared a quick look, standing up and searching for the source of the song.</p>
<p>Nothing. They were alone. But neither of them had spoken, or sang. Who else…?</p>
<p>“<em> I put the record on, </em></p>
<p>
  <em> wait till I hear our song,” </em>
</p>
<p>Rey gasped, taking a shocked step back and knocking into Ben.</p>
<p>“What- <em> oh </em>.” He turned, eyes widening slightly as he saw what had surprised her.</p>
<p>Two figures had waltzed into the room, hardly noticing the two force-sensitives watching them. <em> The figures were glowing </em>. Rey had no idea what she was seeing, at least not until the last line echoed through the room.</p>
<p>“<em> Every night I’m dancing with your ghost.” </em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The song is Dancing With Your Ghost, by Sasha Sloan.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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